A compact THz imaging system

The objective of this paper is the development of a compact low cost imaging THz system, usable for observation of the objects near to the system and also for stand-off detection. The performance of the system remains at the high standard of more expensive and bulkiest system on the market. It is easy to operate as it is not dependent on any fine mechanical adjustments. As it is compact and it consumes low power, also a portable system was developed for stand-off detection of concealed objects under textile or inside packages. These requirements rule out all optical systems like Time Domain Spectroscopy systems which need fine optical component positioning and requires a large amount of time to perform a scan and the image capture pixel-by-pixel. They are also almost not suitable for stand-off detection due to low output power. In the paper the antenna - bolometer sensor microstructure is presented and the THz system described. Analysis and design guidelines for the bolometer itself are discussed. The measurement results for both near and stand-off THz imaging are also presented.